August Housing Construction at Highest Level in Five Months

WASHINGTON - Housing construction in August soared to its highest level in five months, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The number of housing projects launched by builders rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of two million units, a 0.6 percent increase from July's level.

July's housing figures also turned out to be stronger than the government first estimated, as housing construction shot up by 9.4 percent to an annual rate of nearly 1.99 million units.

?EUR??,,????'??I think this is a very good signal that the economy is coming along nicely,?EUR??,,????'?? said David Seiders, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders.

In Tuesday's report, housing construction went up in all regions of the country in August except for the West.

Builders in the Northeast broke ground on 196,000 units, on an annualized basis, last month, a 6.5 percent increase from July's level. In the Midwest, housing construction rose by 4.8 percent to a rate of 370,000. In the South, housing starts went up by 1 percent to a pace of 907,000. But in the West, housing construction dropped by 4.7 percent to a pace of 527,000.

?EUR??,,????'??In the midst of a particularly devastating hurricane season, builder confidence is essentially unshaken,?EUR??,,????'?? said Bobby Rayburn, president of the National Association of Home Builders.